Improvement in process for finishing woolen fabrics



"UNITED Sta-res P nram PETER KING AND GEORGE KING, OF GREENFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN PROCESS FOR FINISHING WOOLEN FABRICS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 41,515, dated February 9, 1864.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that WG,'PETER KING and GEORGE KING, both of Greenfield, in the county of Franklin and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Finishing of Woolen Fabrics or Fabrics Composed in Part of \Vool; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

This invention relates to the process of finishing what are termed face goods, made of wool or a mixture of wool or cotton, and it enables us not only to save time and labor, and consequently reduce the cost of manufacture in that way, but to obtain an increase in the length of the finished piece with a superior luster, a better and fuller nap, and a softer and more silky fabric, and prevent what is I technically termed grayness.

To explain our improvement we will first describe the common process of finishing a piece of what are termed face goods.

First, it is fulled and scoured.

Second, it is subjected to the action of a gig to raise a nap.

Third, it is thoroughly dried.

Fourth, it is again subjected to the action of the gig to loosen the nap.

Fifth, it is sheared or cropped to reduce a portion of the nap.

Sixth, it is subjected in a rolling-machine to the operation of rolling from one roller to another to stretch it lengthwise.

Seventh, while on the roller it is placed in a box and subjected to the action of steam or hot waterwhat is termed steaming.

The fourth and fifth parts of the process are repeated successively as often as may be considered desirable by the finisher, and the piece then goes to the dyeing department and is colored, after which it is scoured and ten tered, then sheared again, brushed, and pressed.

Our improvement consists in taking the piece after the fulling and scouring operation, above classified as the first part of the process, and subjecting it to the operation of rolling, above classified as the sixth part of the process, to bring it to its utmost tension, and after allowing it to remain upon the roller for about twenty-four hours placing it upon the gig, and raising the nap by the operation classified as the second part of the process, then subjecting it several times to the operation of steaming, classified as the seventh part of the process. After the steaming it is subjected to the operations of dyeing, scouring, tentering, shearing, brushing, and pressingin the same manner'as after the steaming in the common process.

It will be seen by a comparison of ourprocess with the common process that we dispense with the drying, the dry beating on the gig, and the first cropping or shearing operation, constituting the third, fourth, and fifth parts of the common process, and instead of subjecting the piece after fulling and scouring to the gigging operation, which constitutes the second part of the common process, we interpose that operation between the rolling. and steaming operations. In this way we save time and labor, besides increasing the length of piece, and obtaining the other advantages described in the introductory portion of this specification. The fundamental principle involved in our method is this: applying the steaming process to produce the luster to the piece with the originalnap upon it undisturbed. This method produces a better luster, a'softer piece, and covers the thread of the fabric with the original nap. Upon applying the steaming process to a piece by the old method the thread is exposed in consequence of the first nap being out off, and the action of the steam and water goes directly onto the thread, owing to its being so exposed, and produces a fabric hard, stiff, and of a coarse feeling compared with one finished byour process. In addition to the superior fineness and softness of feeling produced by this operation, the luster is improved for this reason: It is the action of the steaming process on the nap that produces the luster-that is, if the piece were subjected to this operation with no nap what ever on it the result would be there would be little or no luster. The principle of cropping or cutting off the first nap is this: to produce a finer looking face by cutting off this nap, and then raising another as far as nap, but allowing it to remain.

practicable. We, on the contrary, stand on glc gigging operation to raise the nap, then the opposite principle of not cutting off this steaming, then scouring, tentering, shearing, brushing, and pressing, all substantially as What we claim as our invention, and desire 1 herein set forth.

to secure by Letters Patent, is- PETER KING.

The within-described combined process for GEORGE KING. finishing goods, which consists in successively Witnesses: fullin g and scouring the piece, then rolling-and PATRICK KING,

stretching the same, thensubjecting it to a sin- JNo. H. CLARK. 

